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Open Water

Winner of the Costa First Novel Award 2021
4.03 goodreads logo

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( 71,179 ratings, 11,578 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson is a poignant love story set in London, depicting the relationship between two young Black artists. As they navigate the challenges of identity, vulnerability, and societal expectations, their bond deepens through shared experiences and unspoken understandings.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might like this book if you enjoy lyrical and poetic storytelling, exploring themes of love, vulnerability, and identity. This moving narrative delves deep into the experiences of young Black artists in London, offering an intimate and immersive reading journey.

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Open Water

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

A stunning, shattering debut novel about two Black British artists falling in and out of love.

Two young people meet at a pub in South East London. Both are Black British, both won scholarships to private schools where they struggled to belong, both are now artists—he a photographer, she a dancer—trying to make their mark in a city that by turns celebrates and rejects them. Tentatively, tenderly, they fall in love. But two people who seem destined to be together can still be torn apart by fear and violence.

At once an achingly beautiful love story and a potent insight into race and masculinity, Open Water asks what it means to be a person in a world that sees you only as a Black body, to be vulnerable when you are only respected for strength, to find safety in love, only to lose it. With gorgeous, soulful intensity, Caleb Azumah Nelson has written the most essential British debut of recent years.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Open Water is widely praised for its delicate and beautifully written prose, exploring themes of love, vulnerability, and mental health. Reviewers commend it for its poetic brilliance, emotional depth, and the powerful, evocative depiction of young love. Caleb Azumah Nelson is celebrated as an exhilarating new voice in British fiction, drawing comparisons to the tender romance found in other notable works.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780241448786

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 03 February 2022

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Viking

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 13.0mm

Width: 128.0mm

Height: 197.0mm

Weight: 152g

Pages: 160

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About the Author

Caleb Azumah Nelson is a 27-year-old British-Ghanaian writer and photographer living in South East London. His photography has been shortlisted for the Palm Photo Prize and won the People's Choice prize. His short story, PRAY, was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award 2020. His first novel, OPEN WATER, was longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize and the Desmond Elliott Prize. He was selected as a National Book Foundation '5 under 35' honoree by Brit Bennett in 2021.

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